One of my close friends loves to visit the restrooms in high-end hotels. The interiors, accessories like moisturizers, scented candles and super soft towels thrill her senses and she ends up spending a lot of time than she intends in the room. For the past month and a half, I have been trapezing across four states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala and like in every trip, restrooms are something that can make or mar a trip for me. It's the memory of the restrooms that linger longer in my mind and I always tend to judge a trip by the restrooms. I know that it does sound corny but then the matters of the nature calls are definitely important for all of us, I assume.
I was pleasantly surprised to find clean and well maintained toilets when I travelled in an overnight bus from Bangalore to Goa. The bus stopped at two places en-route and thankfully both the places were clean and the taps had running water in copious amounts.
This time while travelling in the Kerala Sampark Kuchuvelli Express (12218) from Goa to Kerala, I noticed that the toilets were brand new bio-toilets. Now I didn't know what bio-toilets were at that time but a little bit of googling gave me this answer:
The night soil from commode enters into the bio-tank, where the inoculums are stored and gets decomposed by the bacteria. The decomposed human soil will next enter into chlorine tank and to get purified. Finally, the out put will be water and gas . . .
Well, I was happy that some amends have been made by the railways to improve their toilets and this after how many years! I just hope that the people don't misuse this and wreck the well-intentioned efforts of the Indian Railways which has earned the nickname of being the world's largest open toilet. This trip saved my Indian Railways toilet anxiety. So as you have rightly imagined, I slept in peace and got up smiling.
I often wonder why people taking the air-conditioned coaches do not think of keeping the toilets clean and flushing them after each use. There is a GREAT divide between treating personal and public space judiciously. While people ensure that their homes are well kept, they don't think the same of public spaces and especially places like the restrooms which are used for the most personal act - ridding the body of its toxins and waste!
Kalpana Sharma, an independent journalist, columnist and media consultant, in one of her articles "Educating India," says that, "The Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic facilities like transport and proper toilets." I wonder how many of our citizens take this point seriously. And clean toilets are always something that a woman traveller looks forward to when she travels as she cannot shamelessly pee wherever she wants like most of the men in this country do!
Image: Internet
I was pleasantly surprised to find clean and well maintained toilets when I travelled in an overnight bus from Bangalore to Goa. The bus stopped at two places en-route and thankfully both the places were clean and the taps had running water in copious amounts.
This time while travelling in the Kerala Sampark Kuchuvelli Express (12218) from Goa to Kerala, I noticed that the toilets were brand new bio-toilets. Now I didn't know what bio-toilets were at that time but a little bit of googling gave me this answer:
The night soil from commode enters into the bio-tank, where the inoculums are stored and gets decomposed by the bacteria. The decomposed human soil will next enter into chlorine tank and to get purified. Finally, the out put will be water and gas . . .
Well, I was happy that some amends have been made by the railways to improve their toilets and this after how many years! I just hope that the people don't misuse this and wreck the well-intentioned efforts of the Indian Railways which has earned the nickname of being the world's largest open toilet. This trip saved my Indian Railways toilet anxiety. So as you have rightly imagined, I slept in peace and got up smiling.
I often wonder why people taking the air-conditioned coaches do not think of keeping the toilets clean and flushing them after each use. There is a GREAT divide between treating personal and public space judiciously. While people ensure that their homes are well kept, they don't think the same of public spaces and especially places like the restrooms which are used for the most personal act - ridding the body of its toxins and waste!
Kalpana Sharma, an independent journalist, columnist and media consultant, in one of her articles "Educating India," says that, "The Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic facilities like transport and proper toilets." I wonder how many of our citizens take this point seriously. And clean toilets are always something that a woman traveller looks forward to when she travels as she cannot shamelessly pee wherever she wants like most of the men in this country do!
The
Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what
stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic
facilities like transport and proper toilets.
- See more at:
http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/kalpana/#sthash.yzPOZSGV.dpufnnnnnnnnn
The
Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what
stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic
facilities like transport and proper toilets.
- See more at:
http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/kalpana/#sthash.yzPOZSGV.dpuf
The
Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what
stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic
facilities like transport and proper toilets.
- See more at:
http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/kalpana/#sthash.yzPOZSGV.dpuf
So, what are your restroom chronicles, dear reader? Image: Internet